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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29051922">Sing our love's song</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/foggys_cupcake_girl/pseuds/foggys_cupcake_girl'>foggys_cupcake_girl</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>The Sing 'Verse [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Movies)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Birthday, Cinnamon Roll Newt Scamander, Family Drama, Family Issues, First Kiss, First Love, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Newt Scamander-centric, Newt is a Dork, OT3, Polyamory, Protective Credence Barebone, Protective Original Percival Graves, Sibling Rivalry, Three-way Relationship, but Percy and Cree love him, precious bby Newt wants to be a dolphin trainer, so there's like a lot of mentions of seaworld and dolphins and stuff</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-01-29</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-01-29</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 07:00:09</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>16,086</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29051922</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/foggys_cupcake_girl/pseuds/foggys_cupcake_girl</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Newt used to wonder why Theseus got his favorite things on his birthday and he didn’t. Now he does understand: Theseus is smart enough to be normal, to like things everyone else likes. Newt is different. That’s why. If he just liked the things everyone else liked, he’d be okay. Then he’d be happy.</p><p>[Or, that one where Newt suffers from a bad case of being the Unfavorite, until his high-school sweetheart and his brother's boss make it clear he's *their* favorite.]</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Credence Barebone/Newt Scamander, Credence Barebone/Original Percival Graves/Newt Scamander, Leta Lestrange/Theseus Scamander (background), Original Percival Graves/Newt Scamander, Queenie Goldstein/Jacob Kowalski, Tina Goldstein/Seraphina Picquery (mentioned)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>The Sing 'Verse [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2226804</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>208</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Sing our love's song</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Hey bbys, this is my first crack at an OT3 with Newt. Pls be gentle *puppy eyes*</p><p>Partly inspired by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AmItheAsshole/comments/j8i01p/aita_for_getting_my_daughter_a_cake_she_doesnt/g8blaus/">this Reddit post</a>.<br/> </p><p>  </p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It starts, Newt thinks when he looks back, when he is seven years old and asks repeatedly—begs, even—for one toy in particular. A SeaWorld Trainer Barbie. He’s never been to SeaWorld, just seen ads and TV spots, but he loves whales and dolphins and he thinks nothing would be more thrilling than to be a trainer, to swim in a pool with a giant whale that lets him dive off its nose. He knows they can’t go <em> to SeaWorld, </em> it’s in Ohio and it’s February, but he wants that doll.</p><p>The first few times it’s met with laughter and a brush-off, <em> you don’t </em> really <em> want that, do you? </em> The next few times, it’s met with bewildered <em> uhh’s </em> and <em> umm’s. </em> Finally, a strained smile and a <em> well, we’ll see…</em>that in his childish mind is a yes.</p><p>On the day of his party he eats the chocolate frosting off his dry yellow cake and then runs to go play on the swingset with the Goldstein girls. Tina gives him her present outside: a beaded keychain in the shape of a killer whale that she made herself. “When you get your doll we can play Barbies together,” she says happily.</p><p>But when he opens his presents it is…not his kind of stuff. Power Rangers action figures and Hot Wheels cars (his ten-year-old brother Theseus likes those, not Newt), a T-ball set and a plastic basketball hoop. No Barbie. His parents’ present to him is a new bike. Black and silver, his least favorite colors (he likes blue, and yellow, and he <em> really </em> likes pink, just like Queenie Goldstein). But they look so excited that even though he’s disappointed he smiles and says thank you.</p><p>Maybe, he thinks as they go back inside, they just forgot.</p><p> </p><p>~</p><p> </p><p>Theseus always gets his favorite cake on his birthday, Newt notices, funfetti cake with fluffy white icing and rainbow sprinkles. And Theseus gets the presents he asks for. But then again, Newt reflects as he gears up for his tenth birthday, Theseus never asked for a Barbie doll. </p><p>(He’s still bitter about that, three years later; he tried so hard to save up the money to buy it himself and by the time he had it, Toys R Us was sold out.)</p><p>Every year Newt has asked for German chocolate cake. It’s his favorite, and every time they go to the diner downtown (which always has the loveliest cakes in the dessert case) for a special occasion, the first thing he asks is if they have it available that day and if they do, that’s definitely what he orders for dessert. Theseus hates it, says the filling is “gross.” Their parents think it’s funny.</p><p>For his tenth birthday he very firmly tells his mother, “I want a German chocolate cake. I don’t care if I’m the only one who likes it, it’s my birthday and I want it.” He hands her the bakery order form, which he has helpfully already filled out, and walks away feeling proud for having stood up for himself.</p><p>The day of his tenth birthday arrives. He spends most of the party playing pirates in the basement playroom with the Goldsteins, Jacob, Sera, and Theseus while the grown-ups do whatever grown-ups do upstairs. And then comes the time to sing Happy Birthday and blow out the candles, and he’s so excited, and something flippy and weird happens to his belly when Jacob puts a hand on his shoulder but he doesn’t really know what to do about that so he just lets it go.</p><p>He’s just about licking his lips in anticipation of his favorite treat, and he’s so excited and so happy that it feels like a bucket of cold water has been dumped on his head when he sees what’s been set before him: a fluffy white monstrosity covered in swirls of silky whip-cream icing and candy sprinkles.</p><p>Betrayal rushes through him, hot and painful, and his eyes well up and spill over before he can even try to make it stop. He looks up at his mom, who’s beaming with excitement as she lights the ten candles, and she looks startled to see his tears. “I wanted a German chocolate cake,” he tells her in a tiny voice.</p><p>“Well…we talked about it, honey. No one likes that but you,” she says patiently.</p><p>It’s stupid to be this upset, and Newt knows it, but he’s only a child and he’s sad and he’s angry, and it’s too much, and he suddenly can’t stop crying and he yells, <em> “But it’s MY birthday!” </em> before he runs to his room and slams the door.</p><p>Friends come in to comfort him. Mrs. Goldstein, Tina and Queenie’s mom, spends a good ten minutes patting his back and telling him it’s all right. “Please don’t cry,” she coaxes him, while Tina crawls up onto his bed and awkwardly throws her tiny ten-year-old arms around him. “Oh, sweetie. It’s just a cake, it’s nothing worth breaking your heart over like this…”</p><p>“Your parents are so mean, setting you up like that,” Jacob says sympathetically, and nudges Tina aside to give him a hug. Jacob’s hugs are nothing like Theseus’ or his parents’, and Newt isn’t sure why he feels something so big and messy when his best friend hugs him but before he can ask if Jacob feels it too, Newt’s parents come in and say it’s time for his friends to go home.</p><p>Newt doesn’t talk to them for a week, and finally when his mother corrals him into a conversation it’s very one-sided. “Birthday parties are for the family,” she tells him, “and you need to think about other people besides yourself. Not everyone likes rich grown-up food like you do. Your brother and your friends will appreciate if you don’t make them eat food they don’t like, just because you like it. Understand? Let’s try not to let this happen next year, all right?”</p><p>Newt used to wonder why Theseus got his favorite things on his birthday and he didn’t. Now he does understand: Theseus is smart enough to be normal, to like things everyone else likes. Newt is different. That’s why. If he just liked the things everyone else liked, he’d be okay. Then he’d be happy.</p><p> </p><p>~</p><p> </p><p>Newt soon figures out he’s not supposed to feel fluttery when a boy hugs him, he’s supposed to feel like that when a girl hugs him and he doesn’t. He likes Tina all right, but hugging her doesn’t give him butterflies and he’s surprised but not at all in pain when she tells him she likes girls in eighth grade. What does hurt is when Jacob starts going out with Queenie and swears he’s going to get her a promise ring as soon as he can get a decent summer job.</p><p>Newt cries again that night and isn’t sure why. He’s careful, though, to hide his tears. Other boys don’t cry, and his parents like it better when he is like other boys. He sneaks downstairs to watch TV, his coveted collection of SeaWorld, Discovery Cove, and Aquatica TV spots and behind-the-scenes videos. He knows it’s silly, not <em> normal, </em> but these videos make him feel better when he’s sad.</p><p>Newt’s favorite restaurant is a fun little Chinese place called Ping On that he goes to exactly once, when he spends the holidays with the Goldsteins while his parents are on a trip. But he is the only one in his family who likes Chinese food, and he quickly learns not to even ask to go there for his birthday. <em> It’s all for the family, </em> after all, and so “good” Theseus continues to get his favorite cake and his favorite restaurant because they’re <em> normal, </em> while Newt has to content himself with Applebee’s for dinner and yellow cake with canned chocolate frosting.</p><p>One week before his fourteenth birthday he gets the news that SeaWorld will no longer let their trainers get in the water with the whales. Too young to understand the reasons why, he is crushed. Theseus comes home from football practice to find him in tears and is alarmed. “What happened? Tina dump you?” he asks.</p><p>Newt shakes his head. “No. SeaWorld isn’t letting trainers swim with whales anymore,” he says miserably. “Now I’ll never get the chance to see the whale shows.” <em> Or swim with them myself. </em></p><p>Theseus looks baffled. “Why does that matter? ’S not like you don’t have a million videos of it.”</p><p>“That’s not the same!” Newt protests. And then, just as his parents are coming in to see what the commotion’s about, “Oh forget it, you don’t understand.”</p><p>“What’s wrong?” his mother asks.</p><p>Newt shrugs and hugs his pillow. Theseus sighs, “Newton here is upset he can’t risk his life diving with a captive whale anymore.”</p><p>“It’s nothing,” Newt quickly says when his parents seem like they’re about to ask. “I know what I want for my birthday,” he says to change the subject (and hopefully cheer himself up a little).</p><p>His dad brightens. “Lemme guess. Macbook Pro?” That’s the computer of choice for all the kids on the cusp of high school, the #1 Christmas and birthday request.</p><p>Newt shakes his head. He doesn’t need a Macbook. “I want to take scuba lessons at the community center.”</p><p>“Oh!” His mother looks…surprised, which is not a good sign. “Oh, Newt, darling, that’s out of the question. You’re far too young for that.”</p><p>“I am not! I’ll be fourteen in a week, and they offer classes for kids as young as twelve!” he protests.</p><p>“Scuba-diving is <em> dangerous,” </em> his mother insists. “I’m surprised any parent would let their kid do that. No, I don’t <em> care </em> that you’re on the swim team, it’s still far too risky. We’ll talk about it when you’re eighteen. Until then, I’m sorry, but the answer is no.”</p><p>“Aww, cheer up kiddo,” his dad says bracingly in response to his pout. “I know four years seems like an eternity when you’re a kid but it’ll fly right by, I promise. So…birthday dinner at Applebee’s? Bet the prospect of a blue ribbon brownie’ll put a smile back on that face.”</p><p>He means well, but it’s another stab: a painful reminder that he can’t even have the damn dinner he wants. “I’d rather go to Ping On,” he murmurs sulkily.</p><p>His mother sighs. “Newt, sweetie, we’ve talked about this,” she says, and it’s all he needs to hear. It’s a <em> no. </em> No, you can’t have diving lessons, no, you can’t have your favorite cake, no, you can’t have your birthday dinner at your favorite restaurant. No, you can’t have that SeaWorld Barbie, that’s not for boys. Why can’t you just be like other kids?</p><p>“FINE!” he yells, and everyone in the room jumps. “Don’t get me any presents, I don’t want them. I don’t want a cake. I don’t want to go to <em> stupid </em> Applebee’s! I don’t even want a birthday! Who the hell cares? <em> I hate my birthday!” </em></p><p>“Newt!” his mother gasps, clearly shocked, but before she can say anything else he has jumped off the bed, grabbed his coat, and pushed past his parents to run out of his room and head for the front door.</p><p>He stops just long enough to pull on his coat and shove his feet into his boots before he wrenches open the heavy front door. It’s too wet and slushy to ride his bike, but he doesn’t care, he can’t stay here. “I’m going to Jacob’s!” he yells, not asking permission, not caring if he’s punished. “And maybe I’ll just <em> stay there!” </em></p><p>Jacob lives a quick ten-minute walk away, and by the time he gets there far from cooling off Newt is even more furious. Later he will look back and feel amused at his teenage antics, knowing what lies ahead, but in the moment he hurts too much and he <em> knows </em> it’s stupid but he can’t stop hurting.</p><p>But he sees Jacob on the backyard swingset with Queenie before he even gets up the driveway, and they’re holding hands and he can’t interrupt <em> that. </em> He’s about to go when Jacob’s grandmother opens the front door and beckons him in, and he can’t say no to her so he goes. “Something’s wrong,” she observes, and he shakes his head. “No? You come looking for my grandson red as bricks in the face and you don’t feel anything wrong?” she teases gently.</p><p>He blushes a little deeper. “No,” he murmurs unhappily. “Just stupid kid stuff.”</p><p>“Something a little coffee and a pączki can’t fix?” she prods, and Newt almost cries out of sheer gratitude. He adores Jacob’s grandmother, always has, but lately he likes her better even than the Goldsteins’ mom because she treats him like a grown-up. She offers him <em> coffee. </em> Newt doesn’t really like the taste of coffee half as much as he likes the smell, but he loves that she thinks he’s old enough to drink it.</p><p>She settles him on the couch with a raspberry-filled donut and a cup of coffee so saturated with milk and sugar it can barely be called coffee anymore. “The price of the food,” she tells him with a teasing little nudge, “is that you tell me what upsets you.”</p><p>Newt doesn’t want to say it, because even thinking it sounds so spoiled. <em> I threw a tantrum and ran away because my parents won’t give me the birthday present I want. </em> “I don’t know,” he says instead.</p><p>“You don’t know how to say it,” she corrects him, but he hears sympathy in her voice as she adds, “It is hard to grow up.” This time a tear does slip out because <em> she gets it. </em> This is why he likes Jacob’s grandma the best, Newt reflects as he sets aside his coffee and wriggles close to her for a hug. She’s not like other grown-ups. She understands.</p><p>“My parents like my brother better than me,” he settles on, because it feels true.</p><p>“I’m sorry you feel that way. That hurts, doesn’t it,” she says gently. He nods against her shoulder, happy that she didn’t tell him <em> that’s not true </em> or <em> I’m sure they love you too. </em> “It probably feels,” she goes on, and he can hear just from her voice that she’s treading carefully, “like you have been picked second by a lot of people just now, yes?”</p><p>He knows what she’s referring to. “No. I’m happy Jacob has Queenie,” he says, but it sounds hollow even to him. “I’m not jealous of him,” he adds, almost defensively. “Like. I’m not…it’s not that. She’s cool but she’s not…it’s not like that,” he repeats, wishing he could say what he means.</p><p>Her arm tightens around him a little. “No, it’s not that,” she agrees quietly, and Newt goes tense without knowing why. “Maybe your friends don’t see the way you look at him, but I do,” she says, and a sudden rush of fear turns him into a solid block of ice. “It hurts to see the one we love, love someone else, doesn’t it?”</p><p>He cries. Quiet, shaking, muffling it in the hem of his hoodie. “I’m sorry,” is all he can think to say.</p><p>“Oh, little Newton. Nothing to be sorry for,” she assures him, squeezing him a little more tightly. “Don’t think no one’s seen how well you’ve taken it, too…you’ve been a good and strong friend for him. I promise it’s been noticed.”</p><p>Before he can ask what she means by that, the back door swings open and Jacob comes tromping in, Queenie hot on his heels. “Hey, <em> babcia, </em> can we go to—” He breaks off when he sees Newt. “What happened?” he says, suddenly concerned. “Your parents being jerks again?”</p><p>Newt quickly pulls away and gets to his feet. “No. No, I’m okay, I should probably go.”</p><p>“No way,” Jacob says firmly. “You’re staying right here.”</p><p>“But…” <em> You have a date, </em> Newt wants to say, but can’t.</p><p>Queenie reaches out and pats Jacob on the arm. “I gotta go,” she tells him. “Me and Teeny are supposed to help Mama with something, I forgot to tell you.” As she walks by to get her coat she squeezes Newt’s arm, and he’s not entirely sure what’s going on here but he thinks it means everything might be okay.</p><p>“She didn’t have to do that,” he says later when he and Jacob are cozied up in Jacob’s room playing Sports Resort. (Jacob let him win at wakeboarding. Jacob <em> always </em> lets him win at wakeboarding.)</p><p>“Nah. She knows you’re my best friend. Bros before…a word I’m not allowed to say, right?” Jacob quips, and Newt knows it shouldn’t make him feel better to hear that, but it does.</p><p>(His birthday, when it comes a week later, happens at a roller rink. Which he hates. He can’t maneuver around on roller skates and he feels like an idiot trying to play laser tag. But at least his parents don’t ground him for his outburst and he supposes that’s the best he can hope for at this point.)</p><p> </p><p>~</p><p> </p><p>For his “sweet sixteen” (Tina and Queenie giggle every time he says it, which is pretty much the only reason he <em> does </em> say it), Newt makes plans to go to the Chinese restaurant with his friends and then come home and watch movies afterward. He happily goes to his parents and tells them no need to worry about birthday this year, he’s got plans. And his heart sinks to the floor when they look at each other and then say, “We were going to wait and surprise you, but Theseus is coming home from college to see you and celebrate with us…sixteen is such an important birthday after all!”</p><p>Newt knows better by now than to protest. “Can’t he just join us where we’re already going? It’s just…it’s my sweet sixteen, I’d kind of like it to be…”</p><p>He trails off when he sees the look on his parents’ faces, specifically his dad. <em> “Girls </em> have sweet sixteens,” he chortles. <em> “Men </em> just become men, Newton.”</p><p>He knows better than to argue, to try and explain what he meant. He tries not to feel ungrateful on his actual birthday, trapped in the back room of noisy Dave &amp; Buster’s with a shitload of people, mostly his parents’ friends, a monstrosity of a white sheet cake decorated in black and silver edible glitter, and a key to his dad’s old pick-up truck in his hand. He hates that truck. Theseus wanted it when he turned 16 but got a new car instead, which he complained about. Newt wants to ask if he wants to trade, but no. That might be <em> selfish. </em></p><p>Tina finds him curled up in a ball in the Jurassic Park motion sim ride and wraps her skinny arms around his shoulders. “Tell me what’s wrong,” she says, and he buries his face in her shoulder. To say it out loud feels so greedy: <em> I’m sad even though I got my own car and a cool party, because mommy and daddy made me get a cake I don’t like and skip my favorite restaurant. </em></p><p>“I don’t know,” he finally says.</p><p>Tina, good old Tina who always <em> knows, </em> frowns and tugs him out of the booth. She unlike Newt is good at arcade games, so she absolutely owns the skee-ball and basketball and Dance Dance Revolution machines until she has 1,000 tickets. She marches up to the counter and returns with a sheet of temporary tattoos, a pink stuffed dolphin, and two giant boxes of NERDS, his favorite candy. She then hauls him over to the girls’ bathroom, ignoring his splutters of protest, and uses paper towels to apply a glittery rainbow right to his cheek.</p><p>He turns, looks, laughs at himself. “I look—”</p><p>“Happy,” Tina cuts in, “for the first time all night.”</p><p>His parents ruin it a little when he and Tina go back to the main party room for a drink, and they ask very seriously if she is his girlfriend. Tina laughs so hard she chokes on her soda. “God, my parents didn’t tell you?” They look puzzled, and she keeps giggling so hard she can barely draw breath as she informs them that she has been dating Seraphina for two years now.</p><p>They don’t say anything. They just look worried. And Newt knows then and there that if they find out about his childhood crush on Jacob (which, if he’s honest, still kind of stings and he doesn’t want to think about what that means for him in the long run) it’ll be all over.</p><p> </p><p>~</p><p> </p><p>Newt’s eighteenth birthday is his worst.</p><p>He starts off hopeful, as he always does, because Theseus is doing a very important internship in California, so now he <em> can’t </em> be home on February 24th. Newt very firmly tells his parents he wants to go to Ping On, just him and Tina and Queenie and Sera and Jacob, and he personally sends in the order for a rich two-tier German chocolate cake from the bakery.</p><p>But when Newt gets up the morning of his birthday, the first thing he sees are his parents and Theseus at the end of his bed. “Surprise!” his mom says happily. “Look who’s here to see you!”</p><p>And so the fun, casual dinner at the Chinese place has of course been changed, to a “grown-up” party in the private room at Olive Garden, with Newt’s parents, both sets of grandparents, Theseus and his girlfriend Leta, and as an afterthought Tina, Queenie, and Jacob. At the end of the meal he is presented with a light, fluffy lemon cream cake as a handful of servers obliviously sing him happy birthday. He can’t even pretend to enjoy himself.</p><p>He sits there stone-faced, too tired to even try to feign happiness, until he opens the present that Tina, Queenie, and Jacob have combined resources to get him: <em> Zoo Tycoon </em> with, Newt almost can’t breathe when he sees it, the marine park expansion. “Oh wow,” he breathes when he sees it. It’s an older game and he never would’ve even thought to ask for it, and the fact that they know him <em> this well </em> and are willing to show it, as if to make a point? It just feels <em> so good. </em></p><p>Tina just about glows. “I told you he’d like it,” she says triumphantly, and her sister gives her a high-five.</p><p>Newt makes eye contact with her across the table, trying to convey with his eyes just <em> how much </em> he likes it, how much it means to that at least <em> someone </em> here cares about what <em> he </em> likes instead of what “everyone else” likes. (Okay, he hasn’t wanted to actually be a killer whale trainer for a few years now; somewhere around fifteen his self-preservation instincts kicked in and he definitely sees the logic of, y’know, not letting humans dive with bus-sized apex predators. But still, it’s a fun little fantasy and he’s glad Tina at least understands that.)</p><p>And then his mother ruins it with a sigh and a patronizing, “Oh, Newt. Don’t you think you’re a little old for toys now?”</p><p>Before he can say anything his dad hands over an envelope. “This came for you this morning,” he says with a wink. “I think we all know what it is. No better time to open it than right now, is there?”</p><p>Newt eagerly tears into the envelope, unable to help but let out a little cry of excitement when he reads the letter informing him that he has not only been accepted into the University of Michigan, but has also been given a rare full scholarship based on his grades. Tina squeals when she hears the contents the letter, and Jacob leans over to give him a congratulatory whack on the shoulder.</p><p>For a good five minutes, everything is happy and nothing hurts. And then Theseus makes a little show of slipping his arm around Leta’s shoulders and saying, “Well, since we’re all together and sharing good news, I might as well tell you…”</p><p>He prompts Leta to hold out her hand, which she does with a smile so bright it could be seen from Cleveland, and Newt’s stomach drops when he sees the glint of diamonds on her ring finger. Oh. Well. There’s that, then. His parents absolutely lose it, as do all the grandparents. Then as if on cue, they all look at Newt. He clears his throat and manages a tiny, “Wow. That’s…really something.”</p><p>Newt’s mother gives him a <em> that’s the best you can do? </em> look and he tries not to let his disappointment show on his face. Theseus could, he thinks a little bitterly, at least have waited until after the party. But the rest of the adults there are busy cooing over the ring and asking when the wedding will be and when they can expect grandchildren or great-grandchildren.</p><p>And then comes the final blow: Newt’s paternal grandfather leans over and says with a teasing, conspiratorial smile, “So what about you, Newton? Where’s your special little lady, hmm?”</p><p>His dad chuckles. “Newt’s something of a late bloomer,” he says apologetically.</p><p>Across the table, Newt sees Tina’s hand clench into a fist on the tabletop, gripping her dessert spoon as if to use it as a weapon. He wishes, desperately, that they were at a big party venue again, like at his sixteenth birthday, when she put sparkly tattoos on him in the bathroom and made his night suck a little less.</p><p>But they’re in an Olive Garden, and he’s had it, it’s his <em> eighteenth birthday, </em> it’s supposed to be special, and he knows damn well why Theseus chose this exact moment to drop the news that he’s engaged. He looks his grandpa calmly in the eyes and says, in as deadpan a tone he can manage, “Well, actually, I’m gay.”</p><p>There’s a moment of dead silence. Then Tina cheers, and the adults glare at her. “Ooh, sorry,” she says in a <em> fuck you </em> tone. “I thought that was good news.”</p><p>“Oh,” his mother says, a little faintly. “Well. I suppose that explains…a few things.”</p><p>The party doesn’t take long after that to end, and the whole drive home he is treated to a lecture about how selfish he is and how <em> could </em> he ruin such a <em> nice party </em> with such shocking, “potentially hurtful” news? And really, couldn’t he at least be a little thankful that his parents took the time to arrange a birthday party for him, and <em> really, </em> Newton, <em> you could’ve tried a little harder to be happy for your brother, </em> jealousy doesn’t become you, you know.</p><p>He knows better by now than to even try to point out the obvious. It’s futile to say <em> but it was MY party, mom, not his, and I told you I didn’t want that kind of party anyway. </em></p><p>Instead, he waits until 10:00 that night, when everyone else is downstairs in the TV room watching <em> Titanic, </em> to slip out the back door, get in his truck, and drive to the nearest Kroger’s, where he picks out a single-layer German chocolate cake from the bakery, then goes down the party supply aisle and grabs some pink paper plates, cups, and plastic forks, and a pack of pink candles. Premixed Kool-Aid from the grocery aisle, and then a lighter from the checkout lane complete the order and he dumps it all on the conveyor belt, silently daring whoever checks him out to make fun.</p><p>But the boy behind the checkout counter doesn’t seem to be in a mocking mood. “Someone’s birthday?” he says as he swipes things past the scanner.</p><p>“Mine,” Newt says, and then the guy lifts his head to make eye contact, probably to wish him a happy birthday, and—</p><p>Oh.</p><p>
  <em> Oh. </em>
</p><p>So <em> this </em> is how it feels to be struck by lightning.</p><p> </p><p>~</p><p> </p><p>The checkout boy’s name is Credence, and he happily takes Newt up on the offer to join him for some cake. Newt waits until Credence’s shift is over at 11, then drives them both to the local playground. It’s a surprisingly mild night for February, and the picnic table by the sandbox isn’t buried in snow, so he pulls a couple of blankets from the back of the cab and they go for it, huddled up together under the blankets as they lay out their bounty on the battered wooden table.</p><p>Credence insists on setting it all up. Pouring the drinks, putting the candles in the cake, lighting them up, singing happy birthday. It’s a grocery store cake so it’s hardly the rich, decadent thing he’s tried to get from a real bakery half a dozen times now, but it’s better than dry yellow cake with canned fudge icing, and it’s <em> his. </em> He gets to have this.</p><p>Besides, he’s curled up under a thick flannel blanket with a beautiful boy with dark eyes that seem to read his heart and soul like a Kindle, and when Credence slips a hand under the blanket to wrap his icy fingers around Newt’s it sets the very core of his being on fire. He doesn’t know what to do with the things he’s feeling, but he does know that it feels so good and he doesn’t want it to stop.</p><p>They talk as they eat, and he learns that Credence goes to his school but they run in “different circles.” “I don’t really hang out with popular kids much,” Credence explains, and it takes a second for Newt to realize Credence means <em> him. </em> “You’re on the swim team,” Credence points out when Newt insists he’s anything <em> but </em> popular. “You’re literally one of the jocks. People know who you are.”</p><p>“Doesn’t mean I hang out with them—I mean, come on, I skipped homecoming the last three years,” Newt tells him. “No one even wanted to go to the prom with me last year. They all get mad at me for, you know. <em> Not </em> being Theseus.”</p><p>Credence is quiet for a minute and then says shyly, “I’d go to prom with you.”</p><p>Newt laughs. “You’ve known me what, an hour?” he teases, but his heart is racing and the thought of slow-dancing with Credence makes him <em> feel things. </em></p><p>“Yeah, but I like you,” Credence says, like it’s obvious, like it’s true and simple and not absolutely insane.</p><p>Newt is used to not knowing how it feels to like someone. He’s used to internally smacking himself when Jacob’s around—<em> no bad dog don’t touch he’s not yours </em> —and this? This feeling of unashamed crushing, of having someone beautiful hold his hand and say sweet things to him, of looking and knowing he’s <em> allowed </em> to look? That’s new. That’s <em> special. </em></p><p>“Are you graduating this year too?” he asks, to cover up the fact that this is totally new territory.</p><p>“Yeah.” Credence smiles sheepishly. “I, uh. I’m not <em> that </em> smart, but I’m adopted and Jewish, so.” He shrugs, and even in the dim light of the streetlights Newt can see he’s blushing. “I got a scholarship at U of M. A few scholarships, actually. My parents’ll have to cover my books and stuff, but…”</p><p>“Me too,” Newt says, his heart flipping at the thought of being at college with Credence. “I mean. I got a scholarship too, mine was academic though…what are you studying?”</p><p>“Nursing. You?”</p><p>“Biology. Well. Earth science, but there’ll be a lot of bio classes.” He smiles a little at the thought. “We might have some classes together.”</p><p>Credence looks thrilled at the thought, and Newt thinks his heart might actually burst if he gets any happier. They eat cake until they can’t move, wash it down with teeny paper cups of punch, and then leave their trash in the car while they go play on the swingset. “If my dad saw me doing this he’d lose it,” Newt says after a minute. “He’d just be like, <em> oh my God Newton, grown ass men don’t play on swings.” </em></p><p>Credence snorts at that. “Yeah, my egg donor would probably say, like. I’m somehow committing idolatry or a mortal sin or some bullshit.”</p><p>Newt very nearly falls off his swing. “Your what now?”</p><p>“My birth mother,” Credence says with a sigh. “Or at least, we think she is. I don’t know. She burned my birth certificate when I was five years old.”</p><p>Newt doesn’t want to pry, but he can’t help but be curious, and he tentatively tells Credence it’s okay, he’s not going to ask but he’ll listen, and it takes a few minutes of pained silence, broken only by the creak of the swings, before Credence finally says he was rescued by CPS and adopted when he was ten years old, and before that his life was…anything but pleasant.</p><p>“Please don’t feel sorry for me,” he says at the end. “I don’t like to think about it much, but I mean. It’s okay. My parents, my <em> real </em> parents I call them, are great and I…I’m okay now, really.”</p><p>He says it uncertainly, as if he’s not sure he’s really <em> allowed </em> to be okay, and Newt can’t help it, a laugh bubbles out of his throat. “And here I was sulking because my parents make me cater to my brother on my birthday,” he says, a weak effort to lighten the mood.</p><p>“No you sulk about that all you want, they suck,” Credence says authoritatively. Like, <em> I can make that call, I know shitty parents when I see them. </em></p><p>Newt has to drag his feet and stop the swing, because he’s laughing so hard he thinks he’s going to fall off, and it’s not funny but he can’t fucking stop laughing, he <em> can’t, </em> and he hears the scrape of Credence stopping his swing too and he wants to say it’s okay but he’s not, he’s <em> not, </em> and he feels a thin pair of arms close around him, his face buried in a slim, pale neck that smells almost unbearably good, and it’s not until Credence says <em> it’s okay, I got you </em> that he realizes he isn’t laughing anymore, he’s crying.</p><p>He’s crying more than anything else because it’s <em> not fair. </em> Because he never did anything wrong, he thinks, not enough to make his parents love Theseus more than they love him, and Credence <em> definitely </em> didn’t do anything to make his birth mother so awful to him, but that’s what happened and he knows it’s not fair to compare them, but he feels even worse because Credence had it so bad and he mostly had it good but here he is crying over a stupid birthday cake and…</p><p>“Sh-h-h,” he hears Credence hum, one hand rubbing gentle circles on his back. “No, don’t. It’s not about a cake, is it,” he says, and Newt realizes with some horror that he’s just said all of that <em> out loud </em> and fuck, <em> fuck </em> he’s going to <em> die. </em> “You could get yourself a cake anytime you wanted, just like you did tonight…it’s that they didn’t care enough to stand up for you. They said <em> be like everyone else </em> instead of telling you it was okay to be yourself.”</p><p>And fuck, that’s it, that’s <em> exactly </em> it, and Newt presses his face into Credence’s neck and his tears slow to a crawl as the rest of his body catches up to how nice it is to be held. He lets himself relax into the pleasure of being handled gently, savoring the feeling of Credence’s hand tracing patterns on his back, the soft lull of Credence’s deep voice as he whispers <em> that’s it, you’re okay, I’m right here. </em></p><p>“I’m sorry,” he murmurs when he has control of himself again. “I should—I should go.”</p><p>“I wish you wouldn’t.” Credence makes no effort to let go. “It’s almost midnight. Just stay a few more minutes.”</p><p>“Why?” Newt pulls back a little and wipes his eyes with the sleeve of his coat. “I literally just cried all over you, why the hell would you want me to stay?”</p><p>“Because,” Credence says with a mischievous little smile, “when midnight hits I’m going to kiss you.”</p><p>Newt laughs, a little uncertainly, and his throat still feels thick and his eyes are stinging and he’s never felt less attractive in his life…until his digital watch beeps at <em> 00:00:00, </em> and the icy puff of his breath is swallowed as Credence leans in and gracelessly presses their mouths together.</p><p>It’s his first kiss, and judging from their mutual lack of technique he assumes it’s Credence’s too. But that doesn’t stop his mind from absolutely shorting out as Credence’s hands delicately cup his face, thumbs stroking his cheekbones, his long eyelashes tickling Newt’s cheeks. He can’t let go of the chains of the swing, his fingers locking in a vice-grip as the rest of his body trembles, heart thudding in time to the clumsy motion of Credence’s lips against his.</p><p>It’s cold, and a light snow has begun to fall, and it’s midnight and he’s probably going to get the <em> where are you? </em> call any minute. He’s still all tearstained and clogged up from crying and he has to pull back to breathe, and when Credence just smiles again and whispers “So, about prom…?” he can’t help but laugh again, and his stomach is the site of a butterfly rave and this is without a doubt better than any scenario he could’ve dreamed up for his first kiss.</p><p> </p><p>~</p><p> </p><p>The year that follows is so, <em> so </em> good.</p><p>Newt flips the metaphorical bird to his parents and goes to prom with Credence (“but wouldn’t you rather just…go with your friends, make fewer waves?”) and then unashamedly brings Credence over for dinner and introduces him as “my <em> boyfriend,” </em> glaring at his parents and silently daring them to say a fucking thing about it.</p><p>They spend the summer together, working the candy counter at the movie theater and sneaking off to the playground just as the kids are going home. The park becomes one of <em> their places, </em> and the first “I love you” is whispered as they make out in the tire swing one night, and it’s soon, it’s so <em> soon, </em> but they hold on to each other with everything they’ve got, eighteen and naive and unafraid to be vulnerable together.</p><p>College is new and different and exciting and Newt and Credence try to get classes together, and they do manage to snag their first biology lab in the same time slot and get rooms in the same dorm. And best of all, letters from his doctor and psychiatrist ensure Credence gets a single, so Newt spends plenty of nights with him, luxuriating in the fact that here no one interrupts them, saying <em> don’t be so familiar with each other, you’ll make people uncomfortable. </em></p><p>And one night they turn off the lights and slip under the blankets and keep going until they’re together in a way they haven’t been before now, and afterwards Credence lies curled up against Newt’s chest, tears dripping onto Newt’s skin as Credence whispers in a choked voice <em> I didn’t think it would be like that, I didn’t know it would feel that good. </em></p><p>And it <em> is </em> good. It’s <em> so </em> good. Too good, Newt thinks. There’s going to be a catch. There must be. But he’s too sleepy and content and his heart is too full and he doesn’t care right now that this is too good to be true, so he just holds Credence as they fall asleep and decides to enjoy it while it lasts.</p><p> </p><p>~</p><p> </p><p>The one problem is Newt’s parents. Credence wasn’t invited for Christmas as Leta was when she and Theseus were first starting to date, and whenever Newt hints at wanting to bring him to the wedding his parents go mysteriously deaf and change the subject. The final slap in the face is that the wedding falls on his birthday weekend. February 24th is a Saturday this year, and Newt is a groomsman. Fantastic. Nothing says <em> happy birthday </em> like having to hold his brother’s flask during fancy photos.</p><p>Newt tries and fails to get his parents to let him bring Credence, but no dice: “You don’t have the right to bring a stranger to your <em> only brother’s </em> wedding, don’t be so selfish,” his mother scolds him when he presses the matter.</p><p>“You wouldn’t have a problem with it if I were bringing Tina, don’t pretend,” he shoots back.</p><p>“Well, that’s different, we <em> know </em> Tina,” she insists stiffly. Then she brightens a little. “If you want to bring her or Queenie, of course…”</p><p>Newt wishes he were still a child, wishes that running off to his room crying or shouting <em> I hate my birthday </em> were still an option. For a full three-count he lets himself maintain the fantasy of stomping his foot and screaming <em> you love Theseus more than you love me, you don’t care if I’m happy and you never have! </em> and running away in tears. But, even then, he has to admit…it didn’t work as a child, did it? Never once did calling his parents out on their favoritism work out.</p><p>He grits his teeth and suffers through the rehearsal and the dinner, and the falsely cheerful birthday toast that feels like an even bigger slap in the face. “I couldn’t do this without you, little brother,” Theseus says with a tipsy smile as he holds up his champagne glass. “You’re the best, you know that? Selfless, kind, never had a mean word to say to anyone…this guy could do anything he wanted, he’s so smart, but guess what? He wants to run off to Cali when he graduates and like, save sea turtles and stuff, isn’t that awesome?”</p><p>Newt sits through it all, a Stepford smile plastered across his face. After the dinner, rather than sit in Theseus’ suite and watch him and his buddies drink beer he hangs out with Leta in the bridal suite a while, helping her and her bridesmaids tie ribbons on the programs. “Theo’s kind of been a groomzilla, sorry about that,” she tells him with a roll of her eyes. She waits until her girls are preoccupied taking selfies to tell him softly, “I tried to get him to let your partner come…I’m sorry. I told him I didn’t mind but…well. You know how he is.”</p><p>He doesn’t think she knows the half of it. It would take more than the gentle influence of an “outsider” to make his parents treat them equally, he thinks. “Thanks for trying, anyway,” he says, because she <em> did </em> try and he really does like Leta. He just wishes love made his brother less selfish, like it’s supposed to.</p><p>He hides out on the minigolf course (this hotel really is nice, it just makes him wish Credence were here with him all the more…so unfair, they’re <em> still in Michigan, </em> why couldn’t he bring his date?) and calls Credence. “Hey, sweetheart,” comes the familiar deep voice, and Newt almost cries with relief. “You hanging in there okay?”</p><p>“I hate my parents,” he moans. “Fuck, Cree. You should be here. This place is so cool, they’ve got like, five swimming pools, a minigolf course and an arcade.”</p><p>“Mmm. Decadent,” Credence says with a little laugh. “You partying hard?”</p><p>Imagining Credence trying to play minigolf makes Newt smile. “Not without you. God, I wonder how much a room costs here…it’s a nice place, and I think you’d like it. Maybe when we’re done with college we could come here for our anniversary or something.”</p><p>“Newt, our anniversary is the same day as your birthday,” Credence points out. And then, after a little pause, “Which is tomorrow, actually, remember?”</p><p>Newt sighs and settles back in his chair. No, not really. It doesn’t even feel like a birthday. Not with the wedding buzz and the emotional energy he has to expend on not screaming at his parents. “I want to go home,” he says softly, plaintively, and by <em> home </em> he means <em> Credence’s dorm room. </em></p><p>“You’ll be back from the hotel on Sunday,” Credence reminds him soothingly, “and Monday you’re coming over for dinner, right?”</p><p>“Right.” Credence’s parents, for some reason, actually like Newt and ask him to come over for dinner every time he’s home from school. “Cree?”</p><p>“Yeah, sweetheart?”</p><p>Newt just about melts every time Credence calls him that, and he knows he’s not at all subtle about it. “I love you. Fuck, I love you so much, I really want you here and…” He has to swallow a few times. “I miss you. And I’m sorry I’m…”</p><p>
  <em> Me. </em>
</p><p>“I love you too. Try to have a good time tomorrow, okay?” Credence prompts him gently. “It’ll be okay. I just know it will.”</p><p>Turns out, he’s wrong.</p><p>It’s way, <em> way </em> more than okay.</p><p> </p><p>~</p><p> </p><p>The reception hall is so pretty. Leta definitely has good taste; she’s had the whole room done in blue lighting that makes it look like an ice castle, with white rose centerpieces that smell so good Newt is absolutely in heaven from the minute he sets foot in the ballroom. He snaps a few photos with his cell phone and feels a twinge of longing. Credence likes pretty things too, he’d love this.</p><p>He patiently waits out the speeches and toasts and then the four-course dinner. But when the cake is cut and served…</p><p>It’s stupid. It’s such a stupid, <em> stupid </em> thing. But it’s a turtle cake. Rich chocolate with gooey caramel-and-pecan filling, with a heavy chocolate-caramel icing. The whole thing is covered in deceptive ice-blue fondant and white icing flowers, so it’s not until the slice is placed in front of Newt that he realizes what it is. And what it means.</p><p>It’s not German chocolate, but it’s chocolate with pecans in the filling. Exactly what Theseus used to complain about when he saw Newt eating German chocolate cake in restaurants. Exactly why Newt hasn’t been <em> allowed </em> to have his favorite cake on his birthday. Theseus never once stood up to their parents. Never once has he said <em> no, it’s okay, let Newt have that cake, I don’t mind. </em> But he’ll eat it <em> at his own wedding </em> for someone else.</p><p>It’s stupid, but suddenly Newt’s throat is closed and he can’t eat a bite of it. It’s so wrong, he should be happy, he <em> likes </em> this kind of cake. <em> It’s just a goddamn cake, Scamander. It doesn’t mean anything. </em> He doesn’t know why it upsets him. He got the memo a long time ago that Theseus doesn’t care about him, that everyone else in the world is more important to him than Newt. Why should he be upset or surprised now?</p><p>He’s still picking at his dessert fifteen minutes later when the first dance is called. He lets himself be pulled to the edge of the dance floor to watch, tries not to look like he’s trying not to cry. His heart thumps pitifully in his chest, his throat is tight and he aches for Credence, craves to be held so badly…</p><p>And then as if by magic a warm hand clasps his, and he looks up in surprise. The brown eyes that meet his are bright and friendly, setting off a puppy-dog smile that makes Newt’s heart flip and his stomach swoop. “May I have this dance?” he asks, his voice sweet and soft with an Irish lilt, and Newt sputters out something that might be a yes and the handsome man wastes no time in sweeping him into an embrace and whirling him around the dance floor.</p><p>“I’m sorry,” Newt says after a moment of swaying in the man’s arms. “But, ah. If you don’t mind my asking, who the hell are you?”</p><p>The man laughs and twirls Newt under his arm before answering, “Percival Graves. Yeah, <em> that </em> Graves,” he adds when he sees Newt’s eyes go wide; <em> everyone </em> knows about Gravescorp, the tech giant that Theseus works for in California. “But I know who you are too. Theseus’ little brother.” He smiles and adds, something low and tender in his voice, “I saw you across the room, you looked so unhappy and I just couldn’t bear to see someone so pretty in such distress.”</p><p>Newt makes a sputtering noise that must be anything but attractive and he thinks he’s probably blushing, but the man just chuckles indulgently and places a protective hand in the small of his back. “I know,” he says softly, and the way he looks at Newt is…incredible. “I’m very forward. I’ve been told so anyway. Theseus made it clear you were off limits and I should respect that, but my God, sweet thing, has no one ever told you how lovely you are?”</p><p>Well, shit. Now Newt <em> knows </em> he’s blushing; his face feels like it’s just come out of the clothes dryer. <em> Meep </em> is the only way to sum up the noise that comes out of his mouth. Because this man is <em> definitely </em> older, at least Theseus’ age, and he is just <em> stupidly </em> attractive, and he for some reason thinks that <em> Newt </em> is pretty. That’s just too much.</p><p>“Someone has,” he says, a little defiantly. “But he’s not here tonight.”</p><p>Percy laughs, and it’s only then that Newt realizes how it sounds. He practically just handed the man an engraved invitation to hit on him. But…</p><p>The song ends, and another, faster one begins. Newt turns to go, and Percy delicately catches him around the waist. “Wait. Stay?”</p><p>“I’m not really much of a dancer.” He tries to pull away, but Percy pouts and catches his wrist. “What?”</p><p>“Join me for a drink? Just one. Please. I just want to talk to you a minute. It’s just…Theseus talks about you time to time and I’m curious. Please?”</p><p>Newt frowns a little. There <em> must </em> be a catch. No one ever likes him better than Theseus, after all. But he hesitantly agrees to accompany the very nice man to the bar, then back to Percy’s now mostly-empty table. And when they’re settled with their drinks Newt shyly asks, “So how do you know Theseus again?”</p><p>“Oh, he works for me,” Percy replies casually, and Newt nearly chokes on his Sprite. Okay, well. That’s not something he saw coming. “Well, technically he works for my dad, but on the chain of command I’m above him, so.” He shrugs. “Doesn’t matter. I’m not his semi-boss tonight, I’m just his wedding guest and you…” He eyes Newt over the rim of his glass as he sips at his beer. <em> “You </em> are a perfect angel, sorry if it’s too bold to say that but damn, kid, it’s true. Guess we can see who got blessed in <em> this </em> family.”</p><p>He says it with a wink and it’s clearly a “line,” but something about it hurts. “Tell that to my parents,” he mutters without thinking.</p><p>Percy’s turn to frown. He tilts his head to the side, eyes narrowed a little, and says, “Well, <em> I </em> think you’re nice to look at.” He reaches out and lightly pats Newt’s knee. “Tell me about yourself, lovely. Theseus says you’re at Michigan State?”</p><p>Newt rolls his eyes. Trust Theseus to not even remember the name of his fucking school. “University of Michigan. I’m studying ecology. I want to…” He trails off. What <em> does </em> he want? He can’t say <em> marine biologist; </em> God only knows what Theseus told Percy.</p><p>“Theseus said something about wanting to work at theme parks…?” Percy prompts him gently. Then he winks again as he says, “But then again, we’ve learned now that his information is a little out of date, haven’t we?”</p><p>It’s stupid and cheesy, but Newt laughs anyway and corrects him, “I used to want to be a whale trainer when I was a kid. I want to do something a little different now, though. Still marine biology but like…conservation. Rescue.”</p><p>“Tell me about it,” Percy requests with the kind of smile that makes people want to do what he says.</p><p>At least, it certainly makes <em> Newt </em> want to do what he says.</p><p>They share a few more dances, mostly slow because Newt is definitely not secure enough in his dancing skill to try and do anything fast, and Percy is eager and gentle and wants to <em> talk. </em> He’s playful and sweet, there’s nothing at all messy or complex about him; whatever he says is precisely what he means. Newt still has the stupid piece of chocolate caramel turtle cake on his plate from well over an hour ago when they first served dessert, and when they go back to his table after their third dance, Percy points it out. “Not a sweets kind of guy?”</p><p>“It’s complicated. And I really don’t feel like talking about it.” Newt winces as it comes out and quickly clarifies, lest Percy think he’s got some kind of eating disorder, “I love cake. This particular cake just comes with baggage.”</p><p>Percy nods solemnly. “I understand. Well. No I don’t,” he admits with a sheepish little chuckle, “but I understand you don’t want me to pry, so I won’t.”</p><p>Newt likes that. <em> I don’t get it, but I trust you’ll tell me what I need to know. </em> “Do you live in California too?” he asks to change the subject.</p><p>Percy shakes his head. “I travel a lot. You know…Dad’s company, they got offices everywhere, he sends me out to make sure shit’s not getting messed up. So I have a couple of crash pads around the States but nothing that I really call home, y’know? It’s not as glamorous as it sounds,” he adds with a grimace. “Makes having a relationship pretty complicated.”</p><p>Newt blushes again as he realizes he hasn’t given Percy the real, critical piece of information he deserves. “I have a boyfriend,” he blurts out, and then kicks himself for saying it so inelegantly. “But, um. If you want…you could friend me, if you have a Facebook?” he offers quickly, to cover up the awkwardness. “I mean. You seem really cool, so. Yeah.”</p><p>Percy, to his credit, takes it all in stride. “I’d love to be your friend,” he says with a smile, pulling out a sleek black phone that looks brand-new. He finds Newt on Facebook quickly and sends the immediately-accepted friend request. </p><p>Newt’s profile picture of course is one with Credence, and upon seeing it Percy lets out a low whistle. “Well, damn. I never stood a chance, did I,” he teases, leaving Newt a stammering, red-faced mess. “Mmm. He’s delicious, love. I can’t say I blame you for being enchanted with him…oh, and what’s this…” His teasing smile drops. Newt squirms a little in his seat as he sees Percy mouth the words <em> happy birthday </em> several times; of course the first few posts on his page are all birthday wishes from his friends. <em> “Today </em> is your birthday?” Percy says softly, and when he looks up again he seems visibly uncomfortable.</p><p>“It’s not a big deal,” Newt says automatically. “I mean, if this was the only time that worked for them I…you know, it doesn’t matter.” He gets to his feet and tugs Percy along. “C’mon, let’s have another dance.”</p><p>“Sweetheart, do you want to—”</p><p>“I want to go dance, Percy, <em> please.” </em></p><p>The older man lets himself be hauled over to the dance floor, just as a sweet slow song begins. Percy smiles and carefully wraps both arms around Newt, as if sensing that perhaps a little gentle handling wouldn’t be unwelcome just now. “I’m sorry,” he says as they quietly sway. “I know it’s none of my business, I just…I don’t know how to say it other than that I feel…second-hand guilt, I suppose you’d call it, over the fact that Theseus picked today of all days…”</p><p>“Please don’t. I’m turning nineteen, not nine. It isn’t the end of the world.” <em> And besides, I’m used to it. </em></p><p>Percy hums noncommittally, and says with a sweet little nudge of his forehead against Newt’s (he’s <em> just </em> shorter than Newt, perhaps by an inch or two, and damn if it’s not the most endearing thing ever), “You know, marriage is supposed to be forever…but friendship can be forever too, can’t it? Will you—”</p><p>Before he can finish, a hand comes out of nowhere and forcibly drags Percy away from Newt, and Newt actually mewls in disappointment as his dance partner is yanked away. “What in the hell is wrong with you? He’s <em> eighteen!” </em> Theseus scolds Percy. “Jesus Christ, could you maybe not hit on everything that moves and some things that don’t <em> just this once?” </em></p><p>Percy glares at him. “I’ll pretend, for the sake of your job, that you did not just imply that I’m a—a <em> tramp </em> of some kind,” he snaps. “And I’m not hitting on him. Not that it’d be your business at all if I were.”</p><p>Theseus glares right back and snaps, “Keep your hands off my brother, Graves. I don’t really give a shit what your excuse is.”</p><p>“Seems like you also don’t give a shit about your kid brother’s feelings, so there’s that,” Percy shoots back. Then he winces and addresses Newt: “Sorry. That was definitely overstepping.”</p><p>Newt can’t really find it in him to mind. Not when Percy fixes Theseus with a cool glare as Theseus blusters on something about <em> barely of age </em> and <em> you don’t get to date my family </em> and, after about half a minute (during which a distressed Leta tries frantically to shut Theseus up) Percy cuts him off with, “First of all, you great tool, your brother is <em> nineteen </em> as of today, not eighteen, and second, forgive me for not thinking he’s a priority for you, considering you’re getting married on his damn birthday. Christ, if I tried that shit my brother would knock my teeth out and rightly so.”</p><p>Newt thinks his knees are about to actually buckle. He can’t remember anyone really, truly <em> standing up for him </em> like this, in the moment, with no fear of repercussion. His friends have all tried, of course, but kids vs. adults? Doesn’t take a genius to figure out how well that can end. But this…this is someone he’s known for all of an hour and a half willingly shouting down Golden Boy Theseus, <em> for him. </em> Even Credence hasn’t managed to do <em> that, </em> and Credence is the love of his life.</p><p>“It’s none of your business,” Theseus sputters.</p><p>Percy rolls his eyes. “Right back at you, mate.” He laces a hand around Newt’s elbow and gently tugs him away. “I think you’ve put in a long enough appearance, darling,” he says in a much gentler voice. “Let’s get you out of here.”</p><p>“If you walk away with him,” Theseus says suddenly, giving Newt a cold stare that even Newt can see smacks of fear, “I will…I will <em> tell Mom and Dad.” </em></p><p>Newt is so delirious with mingled shock and delight he very nearly laughs, but before he can, Percy has already tugged him away and out of the ballroom.</p><p>They wind up in the Lorelei Lounge, the hotel’s bar, eating cheeseburgers and fries and dancing on the otherwise-empty dance floor to the live guitarist playing “Piano Man” (irony, perhaps?) and if it makes Newt’s stomach explode into butterflies when Percy kisses his cheek at the end of the night and tells him happy birthday and orders him to <em> call me if you need me, sweetheart, </em> well, no one else is around to see it.</p><p> </p><p>~</p><p> </p><p>Life, surprisingly, goes on after that.</p><p>Newt isn’t really surprised when his parents tell him furiously that, as punishment for “humiliating” Theseus by allegedly “walking out of his wedding in a huff,” he will not be allowed to go to the Florida Keys this summer. He was supposed to go for a 2-credit summer class that involved volunteering at a rehab center for injured manatees. That, his mother sternly informs him, will not be happening now. Not until he learns to “think about someone other than yourself for once.”</p><p>He’s bitterly angry about it for two days…and then he decides it’s worth it, because he gets a message from Percy on Facebook, a simple <em> are you okay, I’m sorry if I got you in trouble. </em> “Who’s that?” Credence asks as Newt answers. “The guy you met at the wedding?”</p><p>“Yeah.” Newt can’t help but blush a little, and he tries to turn away before Credence can see. “It’s…it’s nothing. Just a hello. Nothing.”</p><p>Credence plucks his phone out of his hand and scrolls through Percy’s profile. “Oh. Shit, he’s cute.”</p><p>Hearing Credence say so is a relief. “Really?”</p><p>“Oh yeah. Damn…bring him over for dinner sometime,” Credence quips, flipping through Percy’s past profile pictures. “Mmm. You know, even if he looked like Shrek, I’d still think he’s awesome…I mean, when Theseus was being a dick, Percy had the sense to get you out of there. Which is exactly what I would’ve done if I’d been there.” He hands back Newt’s phone. “So like. Not that you need my permission or whatever, but…yeah. Totally hang out with him if you want to, he seems really cool.”</p><p>Percy does eventually come over and go out with them, just a fun late-night dinner at a Golden Corral, and watching the cool, suave older man get all tongue-tied and blush-y when Credence unapologetically calls him handsome is one of the most endearing things Newt has ever seen. But the three of them get along decently, even if it’s a little awkward at first, and he <em> likes </em> being with both of them, in ways he can’t really express or quantify yet.</p><p>And so as the months roll by Percy becomes more of a regular fixture in Newt’s life and, by extension, in Credence’s until the three of them slowly begin to work together as a unit. Nothing is ever said. No contracts are drawn up, no Big Scary Discussions had. But things happen and one feels. <em> Knows. </em> Awkward, chatty dinners at all-you-can-eat college restaurants slowly evolve to movie nights in Percy’s lonely, empty big apartment in Ann Arbor, until it’s not so lonely anymore because with all of the touches Newt and Credence have added over the months, it looks like three people live there instead of one.</p><p>The apartment is nice one, if a little generic; mostly white-on-white because it came furnished and Percy never bothered to redecorate. But over the months things creep in. Credence likes to crochet as a way to relieve stress, and within a few months of hanging out together a heavy yarn blanket in neon rainbow colors is draped over the back of Percy’s couch, and a set of unicorn-themed potholders are on display in the kitchen. Newt’s favorite organic beeswax candles have made their way into the bathroom and kitchen, and he’s always leaving a hoodie, a few books, maybe some flash cards on the coffee table when he inevitably stays over.</p><p>Because they do sleep over at his place, curled up together on the fold-out daybed in his office, and they eat breakfast with him, and they both call him and hang out with him on their own. In September, he helps Newt find just the right birthday gift for Credence; in October he helps Credence plan a costume for the nursing fraternity’s Halloween initiation party. When Credence has a panic attack in front of Newt for the first time, Percy is the one they call. He stays on speakerphone while Newt gently coaxes his trembling, glassy-eyed boyfriend to take the pills he’s supposed to have after an attack, stays until Credence is calm and sleeping with his head in Newt’s lap, stays until he’s comforted the teary Newt and reassured him it wasn’t his fault, these things just happen.</p><p>The critical moment comes one cool autumn night, when they’re on the couch watching <em> Gilmore Girls. </em> It’s early in the first season, the episode where Emily throws a lavish birthday party for Rory while being completely unaware that everyone she’s invited has been either ignoring or giving Rory a hard time for months. By the midpoint Newt is in tears, and it’s stupid, it’s <em> stupid </em> but it reminds him so much of his parents, Theseus, all of it, and it’s not until he feels two pairs of arms surround him that he remembers he’s not alone anymore.</p><p>“I want to kiss him,” he hears Percy whisper to Credence. “Can I?”</p><p>“Only if I get to kiss you next,” comes the flirty reply, and Newt almost laughs before his breath is stolen away.</p><p> </p><p>~</p><p> </p><p>He tries to bring them home for Christmas. Both of them. It does not go well.</p><p>Theseus explodes when he learns that his boss is dating his baby brother. His parents, meanwhile, flip their shit when they learn their son is not only dating a boy—but <em> two boys, </em> one of whom is seven years older than him. They insist it’s not “real love” if you’re “torn between two people.”</p><p>Newt, however, is not torn. He is anything but. For the first time, in fact, he feels completely whole.</p><p>The three of them are their own little biome, their own food chain. Take one link out and it all collapses. They all have their purpose, their own little part to play within their relationship. Newt feels loved, deeply and unconditionally loved, by both of them, and they both know he loves them wildly in return.</p><p>“I thought,” Percy whispers through trembling lips on the first night they all three sleep in his bed together, “that I’d have to be content with just your friendship forever. To have this is just…I couldn’t have even dreamed of it.”</p><p>“I can’t believe it’s real either,” Credence murmurs, curled up on Percy’s other side. “I can’t believe we <em> all </em> want each other.”</p><p>Newt reflects, “I thought I’d never have <em> one </em> person who wanted me, let alone two,” and that of course is his boyfriends’ cue to look at him aghast and shower him with love.</p><p>But: holidays. His parents refuse to let him bring even Credence, let alone both of them, over for Christmas dinner. So he goes to Credence’s place for the holiday break instead, where Credence’s adoptive parents practically jump up and down with excitement to have “another person who loves our son so much” under their roof. It’s strange at first, not doing any of the holiday traditions he’s so used to, but Credence’s parents are so kind and he’d rather be here than go home and deal with his parents belittling him all break.</p><p>New Year’s Eve is spent at Percy’s father’s cabin in Traverse City, tucked up in a fleecy blanket nest in front of a roaring fire. Intimacy between the three of them has been tentative and fleeting, but this time, they make it work, and things progress naturally here, away from the prying eyes of their families. Here, alone, isolated in a snowy cabin in Northern Michigan, they have no one to answer to but themselves and each other.</p><p>Newt thought his first time with Credence was <em> it, </em> the pinnacle of how close he could feel to another human being. But lying on the floor in front of the fire, his head on Percy’s chest with Credence’s hand gently stroking his sweat-slick back, warmth and exhaustion turning his muscles to stretched taffy, he knows he was wrong. <em> This </em> is as close as it’s possible to be. He feels as if his very skin has been opened up, his heart delicately lifted from his chest and laid on an altar in offering to his partners, and he doesn’t think he’s ever felt so good in his life.</p><p>“I don’t want this to end, ever,” Credence whispers over his head, and Newt lets out the tiniest, quivering sob, tears sliding down his nose as he thinks <em> yes, yes, yes. </em> Percy holds them both, and the quick rise-and-fall of his chest under Newt’s head tells him that Percy is feeling it too.</p><p> </p><p>~</p><p> </p><p>Newt’s parents entreat him to come home for his next birthday, telling him it’s “important.” And being stupid enough to think it actually is (“I mean, if they’re going to disown me or something for not coming home for Christmas last year, I feel like I need to experience that in person,” as he snarks to Credence), he goes.</p><p>He’s not expecting a birthday party. He’s not expecting anything but pain. Instead, he’s surprisingly treated to a breakfast just with his parents. They say nothing about Christmas, but also make no mention of Percy or Credence and change the subject if he brings them up. And, rather tellingly, they also don’t make a single mention of his birthday.</p><p>Finally his mother sighs and says, “I don’t know, I just feel like you’re pulling away from us.”</p><p>Newt chokes on his orange juice. “I’m sorry?”</p><p>“Well, you know.” She waves a hand, as if to illustrate how far away he’s getting. “You used to be such a sweet kid, always wanted to be with your family, but now…you left Theseus’ wedding and then skipped the holidays, and I know all children have to rebel, of course, but honey…well, I’m concerned about you,” she says earnestly.</p><p>His dad nods solemnly. “You’ve really made your mom upset over the last year,” he says, and Newt bites back a wild desire to laugh. “We love you, you know. We just don’t want to see you spoil things for yourself.” He shakes his head. “It’s one thing to say you’re gay, but to go around with multiple people at once…and to <em> flaunt </em> that…well, the extended family is very concerned too, you know, your grandparents for a start.”</p><p>But Newt has had enough. “Please stop,” he cuts his dad off quietly. “If you really loved me, you’d support me. You’d at least want to meet them, get to know them. You’d care less about how it looks and more—” His voice breaks, and he has to stop and take a sip of his drink before he finishes, “More about how I’m happy, really happy, and that they…take care of me. They <em> love </em> me.”</p><p>“But you’ll never be able to have a real family with them,” his dad argues. “You won’t be able to get married, have children, bring them home for Christmas or Thanksgiving—”</p><p>“Only because you won’t let me!” Newt can’t quite believe what the hell he’s hearing. “I <em> tried </em> to bring them home to meet you and you wouldn’t let me! That wasn’t them, it was you!”</p><p>“You don’t understand,” his mother insists. “Your grandparents would have been very upset, and we didn’t want you to have to deal with the fallout.”</p><p><em> Translation: YOU didn’t want to deal with the fallout. </em> Newt has to bite his tongue to not say it. But before he can rebut the insanity of her statement in a more polite way, his father comes in with, “We’re just thinking of what’s best for the whole family.” And before he can say anything to <em> that, </em> his father goes on, “Anyway, tonight we’ve rented out Luigi’s back room for an anniversary party for Theseus and Leta. He said you wouldn’t come, I said we’d get you there.”</p><p>Newt just about sees red. “I’ll come,” he says through gritted teeth, “if I can bring my partners. Both of them.”</p><p>“Absolutely out of the question,” his mother says, predictably. “Your brother will be very upset if he sees his boss there with you.”</p><p>“Fine. Then I guess you’ll have to do without me.”</p><p>“Don’t be selfish,” she scolds him. “This is not about you, Newton, honestly. I think you can survive without your…boys…for one night, can’t you?”</p><p>He almost screams. <em> This is not about you. </em> Yeah, Mom, he thinks bitterly, when has it ever been? “We have plans for tonight.”</p><p>“Well, change them,” his father says unsympathetically. “I don’t know what could be important enough to—”</p><p>“It’s my birthday, Dad,” Newt interrupts impatiently. “That’s why we have plans tonight.”</p><p>His mother, to Newt’s sheer and utter amazement, looks bewildered. “But you don’t like birthday celebrations. You never did, really, once you hit your teens. It was such a struggle to even get you to plan anything.”</p><p>Oh God. Newt actually thinks he might cry. As it is, a choked little laugh snorts out instead. “You cannot be serious.” A look at his parents’ faces tells them they are indeed serious. “Oh my God. You know why? Because every <em> damn time </em> I tried to tell you what I wanted, you said no! Because my choices were just too <em> weird </em> for you!” It comes out sudden, bitter and angry and drawn from him like poison out of a rattlesnake bite. “No Newton, we can’t have that weird grown-up German chocolate cake, we can’t have that weird Chinese food, <em> your brother doesn’t like it!” </em> He stands up, hands clenching into fists. “God, Mom. Credence’s mother <em> beat him up </em> as a kid and he <em> still </em> thinks you two are assholes!”</p><p>She gasps comically, her hand flying to her mouth in a <em> well I never </em> gesture. “Don’t make a scene!” she implores.</p><p>“No. I’m done.” Newt walks away. He hears his dad saying something threatening in the background, something akin to <em> if you walk away don’t come back, </em> and he doesn’t care enough to find out what it is.</p><p>He’s done. He’s done <em> trying. </em> He’ll always be second best and he needs to stop pretending he’s okay with that.</p><p>In the restaurant, he’s calm. At home, he cries. Percy’s away for work so it’s Credence who holds him, who kisses away his tears and gently feeds him bites of the gourmet cupcakes bought for more celebratory purposes than this until he calms down, who patiently watches episode after episode of <em> Say Yes to the Dress </em> and <em> Disney’s Fairy Tale Weddings </em> until it’s one AM and no longer Newt’s birthday. It’s Credence who takes him to bed, who makes love to him and whispers against his neck <em> you are good enough, you are mine, you are special </em> until he almost starts to believe it.</p><p> </p><p>~</p><p> </p><p>On a gray February morning his senior year of college, Newt wakes to a soft mouth nipping at his neck and jaw. “Wake up,” Credence coos. “We have a surprise for you, sweetheart. Wake. Uuuup.”</p><p>He sighs and groans a little as Credence shakes him. “All right, <em> all right, </em> Cree, I’m up,” he protests, pushing Credence away and sitting up so he can rub his eyes enough to get them open and…</p><p>Oh. That’s new.</p><p>He forgot they stayed over in Percy’s apartment last night, instead of sleeping in their apartment (senior housing is <em> infinitely </em> superior to freshman, but ugh, those XL twin beds!) and the bedside table has been cleared to make room for…Newt just about tears up…a three-layer German chocolate cake. It’s pretty, but just messy enough to alert him that they baked it themselves. It’s covered in candles, far more than there should be, as if to make up for all the birthdays he couldn’t blow out the candles on the cake he wanted. On the floor beside the bed is a stack of presents, and next to him there is a huge bouquet of delicate pink roses.</p><p>He wouldn’t let them do anything for his last birthday, his twenty-first. Because, Newt’s luck being what it is, of course something happened that day.</p><p>(It wasn’t his fault. After harassing them on and off for months, Theseus went too far when he showed up at Percy’s apartment to yell at him for “taking his baby brother away from the family.” He, predictably, got fired for stalking the boss’ son, and of course the family blamed Newt, <em> just jealous of your big brother, had to sleep with his boss, make his life miserable. </em> He hasn’t talked to his family at all since then. But it left him understandably in not much of a mood to celebrate.)</p><p>But it seems Percy is determined to put that all behind them, because from the way he’s bouncing on the bed and looking at Newt like an eager child waiting to open Christmas presents, this must have been his idea. “Did I get the cake right?” he blurts out before he’s even said happy birthday, confirming Newt’s suspicions. “Cree said that was your favorite.”</p><p>“Did you make this yourself?” Percy’s skills in the kitchen are legendary. In a bad way. The day they tried to teach him to bake bread, Percy set the parchment paper on fire and then stood there screeching like a frightened pterodactyl while Credence and Newt put it out. (Miraculously, the bread was in fact still edible. Newt’s still not entirely sure how that happened.)</p><p>“I helped a lot,” Credence assures him with an understanding little grin. “But yeah, it was all Percy’s idea…so…” He picks up a lighter and lights the 40-some candles on top. “We’re gonna sing,” he warns Newt, “and you’re gonna shut up and let us, understand?”</p><p>Newt laughs and covers his flaming red face with his hands as his boyfriends sing to him. When he’s blown out the candles and they’ve all had a piece (and it <em> is </em> in fact delicious, and there’s something so decadent about having cake for breakfast), Credence presents him with the pink roses. He cradles the bouquet like a baby, and if a few tears drip onto the petals while Percy gently rubs his back, well, no one says anything about it. “I love it. They smell so good,” he enthuses to make up for his moment of weakness, and Credence responds with a brain-melting kiss that leaves Newt dizzy for a good five minutes.</p><p>“Okay. Now. Presents,” Percy says excitedly, plucking the first one off the stack and dropping it unceremoniously in Newt’s lap.</p><p>At his boyfriends’ encouragement Newt rips into the package like a kid, gasping in surprised delight when he sees what it is: a shortie wetsuit, black and yellow with stripes of sky-blue and bright pink running down the sleeves and legs. “Oh,” he breathes. “I don’t know if I—”</p><p>“It’ll fit,” Credence promises. “We used your old one to make sure the measurements were right. And you’ll need it later, trust me.”</p><p>Percy nods solemnly and then, with sparkling eyes, grabs another present, this one much smaller, and tosses it to Newt. “This one next.”</p><p>It’s a little silver whistle. A <em> real </em> one, the kind real dolphin trainers use, not a little plastic thing from the sporting goods store. His eyes well up. “Oh my God, where did you even get this?”</p><p>Percy snorts and tugs his hair. “Please, don’t you know who my dad is? I can get anything I want,” he teases. And then he grabs another present and shoves it into Newt’s hands. “Now open this one.”</p><p>It continues like that for a few more rounds. New snorkel gear, top of the line and with sky-blue detailing to match his wetsuit. Several beautiful, glossy new books: <em> The Killer Whale Who Changed the World, </em> and a book by a longtime orca trainer from Scotland, and a beautiful first-edition of <em> A Ring of Endless Light </em> that nearly brings him to tears. A DVD set of <em> Frozen Planet. </em> “You guys, this is too much,” he protests when Percy sets one last present in his lap, this one wrapped in very conspicuous pink shiny paper with a glittery white envelope taped to the outside. “You didn’t have to…”</p><p>Percy leans over to press a kiss to the side of his face. “Consider it making up for lost time, baby,” he says softly, and taps the present in front of Newt. “Last one. Present first, then card.”</p><p>Newt opens the present, and his heart twists at the sight: it’s a vintage SeaWorld Barbie, the one he asked for when he was seven years old. “How did you even find this?” is his first question, then, “Are you teasing me, is that what this is?” He never told anyone about that. Only Tina knows, and he can’t believe she would tell these two if she thought they’d use it to mock him, but…</p><p>“No, no, <em> no,” </em> Percy insists, one hand gently rubbing up and down his arm. “No, love, we’re not…it’s not like that. Look at her hand.”</p><p>He does…and a choked noise of disbelief slips from his throat. She’s got an envelope in her hand, stamped with the University of Miami logo. An acceptance letter, doll-sized…identical in miniature to the one Newt’s had hidden in his desk since Christmas.</p><p>He got into University of Miami’s marine biology program and didn’t tell them. Because when he thought about what it would entail—either him moving there and being separated from them for three years, or (gulp) the two of them having to move there with him…no. He couldn’t ask that of his partners, they deserved better, it was a selfish demand and he couldn’t ask that of Credence especially, who worked so hard to get through nursing school and graduate in 4 years (a very rare and difficult thing to do for such a demanding program), he didn’t deserve to suddenly have to move to another state and pass the licensing exam <em> there… </em>it just wasn’t fair. No. He’d go to U of M for another few years. That was the thing to do.</p><p>But he couldn’t quite bring himself to throw the letter away, and Credence must have found it, because now here it is, they <em> know, </em> and when he opens the glittery white envelope confetti falls out and he bursts out laughing even as his throat closes up: it’s Crush from <em> Finding Nemo, </em> who congratulates him and announces he is TOTALLY RIGHTEOUS.</p><p>Inside the card is a folded piece of paper and the sweetest note Newt has ever read, written in Credence’s neat, compact print:</p><p>
  <em> We’re so proud of you it hurts, sweetheart. The fact that you thought you had to hide this from us hurts, but we understand why. So, good news: we’re moving to Florida as soon as we graduate! All three of us! We will be so, so thrilled to support you and be with you as you chase your dreams. We WANT this for you, okay? You deserve it. And there’s no use saying we don’t have to, because we already have. </em>
</p><p>Written underneath in Percy’s loose, rolling script is a P.S.: <em> We love you. Don’t you dare ever hide good news from us again. Because nothing, NOTHING, is too good for you. </em></p><p>Newt’s already on the verge of tears, but what makes it all spill over is the little folded paper inside the card: a printout of the Zillow listing for a condo that apparently will be their new home. “You already have us a house?” he whispers, and Percy nods and slides both arms around him for a gentle squeeze. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell—”</p><p>“Sh-h-h.” Percy kisses the side of his face again, then kisses him on the mouth for good measure. “It’s okay, love. I know why. But don’t do it again. We want you to be happy, okay? We want you to have the career you want.”</p><p>“But—” He looks to Credence. “The NCLEX…”</p><p>“I can take it before we move,” he assures Newt. “You don’t have to give up anything to be with us, you know. And trust me, I get why you thought that, like…” He sighs and tucks his head against Newt’s shoulder. “When we first got together, I was so…so outgoing with you, so <em> forward, </em> because I was afraid if I wasn’t, if I ever needed you to—to take care of me, you know, like when I had my panic attack, you’d stop liking me.”</p><p>“Never,” Newt protests, reaching for Credence’s hand and squeezing it tight.</p><p>Percy strokes Newt’s knee, then reaches up and gently squeezes the back of his neck. “When I met the two of you, you were so close I thought I didn’t stand a chance,” he confesses. “I thought I’d be lucky if you even let me be your friend, if you could stand having me intrude on you that much…asking Credence if I could kiss you that night on the couch? I felt like I was putting my life into both of your hands, I was that afraid.”</p><p>Newt looks at him in shock. Confident, beautiful Percy, heir apparent to a tech giant, in such fear of rejection it felt like he was risking a death sentence? Impossible! But there’s no lie in his anxious eyes and Newt reaches up with the hand that’s not clinging to Credence to cup Percy’s face, tenderly stroking the curve of his cheek with a thumb. “I wanted you from the first,” he admits quietly. “I was just afraid of…what it meant.”</p><p>“I know that now, but I didn’t then.” Percy squeezes his wrist. “See? We all have our things, love. Our own little crosses to bear.” He smooths back Newt’s messy curls. “But the point of being together is to not have to bear them alone, understand? I know you’ve spent a lot of time being forcibly pushed out of the spotlight. Guess what? That’s over now.”</p><p>Shame sweeps through Newt at the word <em> spotlight, </em> the thought of being “attention stealing” or “selfish” too much to bear. “I didn’t want to make you do something that would only benefit me,” he tries to explain.</p><p>“No,” Percy says, his voice gentle but no-nonsense. He squeezes Newt’s wrist again. “Baby, you get to be as selfish as you want right now. We’ll absolutely back you up. You’ve been caving in to people your whole life. That ends now. We’re going to go with you to your dream school, and we’re going to be happy about it because <em> we love you.” </em></p><p>Credence tucks himself into Newt even closer and taps the Barbie doll. “Even if you don’t think this is really what you want to be anymore,” he says softly, “you still deserve the chance to find out if it <em> is. </em> Because you’ve worked so hard, Newt. Please don’t…don’t hold back now. Not for us.”</p><p>Newt has never been this overwhelmed in his life, and all he can say, as he wraps one arm around each of his boyfriends and holds them tight, is “I love you. I love you so much.”</p><p>“We love you too,” they tell him, and then they stay cuddled up like that all day, until it’s time to get untangled, get dressed and go out for dinner because they’re all starving.</p><p>(They take him all the freaking way from Ann Arbor back to his sleepy little suburb so they can go to his favorite Chinese restaurant. Because of course they do, they’re the best.)</p><p> </p><p>~</p><p> </p><p>Part two of the surprise comes a week later on spring break, when they go to Florida to “break in” his new snorkel gear and wetsuit, to hang out on the beach and all the various theme parks, and—Newt almost stops breathing—go to his coveted SeaWorld for the first time.</p><p>(He cries, as should surprise no one, when he sees an orca whale in person for the first time, and though he knows now that an aquarium is no place for a whale and he hasn’t wanted to be in the water with one for some time, it still socks him right in the heart to be this close to one.</p><p>“Do you think I might rescue one someday?” he childishly whispers to Percy, who squeezes his hand and whispers back, <em> of course baby, you can do anything you want.) </em></p><p>They go to Disney World the next day, not to spin in teacups at the Magic Kingdom, but to see Animal Kingdom (and yes, he knows it’s not real and it’s cheesy as all get out, but Newt still loves the Tree of Life and the landscaping at Pandora), and then in the afternoon they go to Epcot and take a behind the scenes tour of the Living Seas Pavilion. Credence and Percy hang back and watch through glass as Newt dives in the aquarium with sea turtles, all kinds of fish, even (gulp!) dolphins and sharks.</p><p>“What’d you think?” Credence asks eagerly when he comes back to meet them at the end of the dive. </p><p>“Perfect,” Newt tells them, and they both jump like little kids and nearly knock him over with a joint hug.</p><p>But the crown of the trip comes on their last day in Florida, when they surprise him with a dolphin encounter at Discovery Cove. “I can’t,” he protests as they all but stuff him into the regulation wetsuit and propel him out to the enclosure. “I told you both I—God, being in the aquarium with them on the tour was good but like, they weren’t <em> right there with you </em> and…”</p><p>“And nothing,” Credence says firmly. “You can’t tell me your inner ten-year-old isn’t jumping up and down just the <em> tiniest </em> bit right now.”</p><p>Newt says nothing because, yes, yes baby Newt <em> would </em> be thrilled right now, but adult Newt has seen <em> Blackfish </em> and <em> Lolita: Slave to Entertainment </em> and <em> A Fall from Freedom </em> and he’s understandably a little nervous about getting in the water with any mammal more aggressive than a manatee.</p><p>“The dolphins at Epcot didn’t hurt you,” Percy says firmly, “and I promise these won’t either. Besides…” He nudges him in the ribs. “Aren’t you the same badass from a few days ago going on about how you wanted to save a killer whale? You do know that will likely involve being within arm’s reach of one, right? That’s gonna be a lot more terrifying than posing for a shot with Flipper here.”</p><p>The tour host overhears them and laughs. “He’s right,” she says with a patient smile. “C’mon, I promise no one’s hungry right now.”</p><p>Newt rolls his eyes. “I’m an oceanography major, I <em> know </em> they don’t eat humans,” he says, trying for some dignity and, judging by the snickers of his partners, failing miserably.</p><p>It does not start off smoothly. Touching a real live dolphin is massively different than reading about one in a book, or even seeing one swimming twenty feet away in an aquarium, and Newt isn’t sure if he’s more afraid of hurting his dolphin or being hurt by them. The trainer hands him a ball and tells him to bat it across the enclosure so the dolphin, a rescue named Miracle, will bring it back to him. Newt instead wings it off Credence’s shoulder and bats himself in the face with it. Percy laughs so hard he almost drowns. “Guess we can cross ‘trainer’ off your list of career options,” he teases.</p><p>“Oh, be quiet.” Newt tries again and this time successfully tosses the ball in the right direction, and makes the hand signal for “retrieve,” and the dolphin brings back the ball without anyone getting injured.</p><p>“Feeding sea turtles was easier than this,” he remarks at one point, and Amy, the dolphin trainer, laughs and nods sympathetically.</p><p>“It takes a lot,” she says as Miracle rolls over flippers-up for a belly scratch. “And you definitely have to love animals, and believe in what you’re doing.”</p><p>“Well, he’s definitely got that on lock,” Credence tells her. “You should’ve seen him when we went to Epcot. Thought he was gonna burst into tears the first time they held up a sea turtle.”</p><p>“I used to really want to be a trainer as a kid,” Newt quickly explains before Credence or Percy can help him embarrass himself any more. “I don’t really want to as much anymore…I think I can do more good out in the actual ocean, doing conservation work.”</p><p>“Well, we definitely could always use more people out there trying to make the oceans a little cleaner and safer.” Amy pats the dolphin, who rolls over to face them. “All right. One more trick and then our time is up.”</p><p>She has Newt make the hand signal for “retrieve” again, and this time Miracle doesn’t bring back the ball. Instead she brings back a little buoy with…</p><p>Newt makes a rather dolphin-like noise himself. He’s seen this buoy before in Discovery Cove ads, a little white thing with blue letters spelling out <em> will you marry me… </em> except the “me” has been carefully X-ed out and replaced with <em> us. </em></p><p>He turns to his suddenly anxious boyfriends, standing side-by-side with their hands locked together, staring at him with anticipation in their eyes. He realizes what’s going on as they carefully inch closer to him in the water, holding out their arms to him, and he lets out an amazed laugh as he launches himself the last few feet and splashes down into their waiting embrace. “Yes,” he bursts out, giggling hysterically as he plants kisses on their faces and squeezes them close. “Yes, yes, a million times yes!”</p><p>“So, yes?” Percy teases as Credence buries his face in Newt’s neck.</p><p>“Yes!”</p><p>Amy grins as she hands over a little jewelry box wrapped in a protective case. Percy takes it and flips it open, revealing three simple textured bands: white gold, yellow, and rose. Credence plucks the rose gold band and slides it onto Newt’s ring finger. “Someone told me you like pink,” he says with a teasing little smile.</p><p>“It’s perfect.” Miracle actually chooses that moment to chitter, as if she agrees, and all three of them laugh.</p><p>“It’s okay?” Percy says a little anxiously. “Not too plain? We just thought…we wanted to get you one that wouldn’t get in the way while you were working…”</p><p>“I love it,” Newt assures them, and they practically glow with excitement as he puts their rings on their fingers too, and then it’s just pictures and splashing and stolen kisses until they have to get out of the water and head back to the lockers to change.</p><p>“Okay, but I do have one request,” Percy says as they dry off.</p><p>“And what’s that?” Newt asks absently, too busy looking at the way the light reflects off his ring.</p><p>“I want to be the one to tell Theseus and your parents,” Percy says with a slightly maniacal grin.</p><p>“Theseus doesn’t even work for you anymore!” Credence points out.</p><p>Percy gives him a sly look. “Yeah, I know. Still wanna see the look on his face when he finds out that pesky baby brother of his is getting married to the heir of a tech giant while he’s out there trying to explain how he got fired for harassment.”</p><p>“And yet,” Newt sighs as he finally starts to change out of his wetsuit, “he’s <em> still </em> the favorite.”</p><p>He doesn’t think the sting will ever really go out of that. Not even now, when he’s got a “found family” who actually treats him right. It doesn’t help that he knows full well that saying it out loud just makes him sound whiny. <em> My parents loved my brother more </em> is like handing strangers an invitation to say <em> oh, I’m sure that’s not true, you probably just are being too sensitive. </em></p><p>Percy reaches over and unzips the suit for him. “I know it sucks,” he says, gently rubbing the back of Newt’s neck. “Just remember…you won.”</p><p>Newt’s about to ask what he means by that, until Credence surges forward and kisses him hard, and he feels Percy’s arms tighten around him, rooting him to the spot while Credence ravages his mouth like he’ll never get another chance, and he feels Percy nibbling the side of his neck and Credence’s hands are <em> everywhere </em> and…</p><p>And he knows somewhere in the back of his mind they’ll have to continue this in the hotel room later, right now it feels too good to do anything but just enjoy it. He <em> does </em> understand now: being held to the spot by two beautiful men who’d do anything for him, kissed within an inch of his life, after one of the best weeks of his life, safe in the knowledge that he is loved and supported…yeah, this definitely counts as a win. Not because his parents “lost,” because his happiness isn’t a competition. </p><p>But no one can take this away from him, and he knows it. And for once he’s too busy thinking <em> I love you </em> instead of <em> am I good enough, </em> and it’s a feeling he thinks he can definitely get used to.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>If you love Fantastic Beasts or DC, come geek out with me on Twitter or Tumblr @CupcakeFoggy ^_^</p><p>And if you like this pls pls comment and I will love you forever &lt;3 &lt;3 &lt;3</p><p>Shout-out to my chief enabler redreaper86, who responded with a resounding HECK NO whenever I suggested I should shorten this monster ;)</p></blockquote></div></div>
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